By Vann Marlo M. Villegas
TWO MORE Supreme Court associate justices are vying for the post of Chief Justice (CJ).
Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra, an ex-officio member of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), said Associate Justices Estela M. Perlas-Bernabe and Andres B. Reyes, Jr. are the new nominees for the position of top magistrate.
Ms. Bernabe, who was appointed in 2011, is among the five most senior justices who are automatically nominated for the top post but has yet to accept her nomination.
Mr. Reyes was appointed by President Rodrigo R. Duterte in 2017. He also vied for the position when Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno was ousted this year as chief justice through quo warranto.
They now join the automatically nominated senior associate justices Antonio T. Carpio, Diosdado M. Peralta, and Lucas P. Bersamin among the list of CJ nominees.
Associate Justice Mariano C. Del Castillo was the only automatically nominated justice who declined the nomination, saying he only has one year if appointed chief justice before his retirement and will head the 2018 Bar Examinations.
The JBC extended the deadline for the application for CJ from Oct. 15 to Oct. 26.
The position was vacated by Teresita J. Leonardo-De Castro upon he retirement as chief justice on Oct. 10 when she reached the mandatory retirement age of 70.

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